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Teaching at SiTKa

. Ruri

Ruri has been working with clay for over 38 years. After the apprenticeship under master Mashiko potter, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, she established her studio and kiln in rural Sheridan, Oregon. In 2004 she had her anagama kiln (wood firing climbing kiln) constructed, named it FuuKooGama (Wind and Light Kiln). She has been focusing on abstract sculpture fired in her anagama and other wood fire kilns.

Nature is her important source of inspiration, as well as all kinds of relationships in our daily life.

Alexandra Schaefers

Alexandra Schaefers is an artist-poet hybrid from Corvallis where she paints plein air in local woodlands and illustrates poems. She strives to make work that blurs the artificial boundary between humans and nature, believing if we reclaim our rightful place in nature we will become better stewards of the planet and our own bodies and minds. As an art teacher, she encourages people to suspend judgment and create from a genuine place. She believes art is a powerful way to celebrate one's inner nature in which we find the same beauty as our favorite wild places.

Alison Dennis

Alison Dennis

Angela Eastman

Angela Eastman weaves together knowledge of traditional craft techniques and movement exercises to facilitate workshops in engaged art making. Angela has taught workshops to kids and adults in sculpture, installation, ceramics, basketry and performance. Angela received training through the Core Fellowship program at Penland School of Crafts prior to receiving her MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Angela Grainger

Angela is an award-winning watercolorist and instructor and a juried member of several art societies. She began teaching acrylics in 1984, studied in oil from 2002-2003 and in 2006 she changed directions and studied watercolor techniques in Florence, Italy. She began teaching watercolor classes and workshops in 2008.

Annamieka Davidson

Annamieka Davidson is a Portland-based artist. Her paintings explore themes of hope and healing with imagery of humanity and the natural world. She brings energy and a love of art-making to her workshops and students will feel encouraged to find their own voice and experiment with new techniques. Annamieka earned her BFA degree from the University of Oregon in 2007 and spent the year following her BFA working at Sitka in 2007-2008. Each Summer she returns to Sitka to teach painting. She offers online classes and resources on her website.

Anne Godfrey

Anne Godfrey teaches drawing and photography practices in pursuit of engaging the landscape. Godfrey has taught thousands of students in contemporary drawing and photography since 2005 at UO, SUNY-ESF, Lane Community College and UNM. In 2014 she was named one of the 30 Most Admired Educators by Design Intelligence. Her book PhotoScape (Routledge Press) comes out in 2020. Formerly a member of the University of Oregon Landscape Architecture faculty, she now teaches at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where her work hybridizes art practices with environmental design.

Ben Cosgrove

Traveling composer-performer Ben Cosgrove has been teaching and presenting on the subject of place and music for several years. He has given workshops at universities, elementary schools and everywhere in between, and held fellowships and residencies with organizations including the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and the National Scenic Trails System. Recent albums include Field Studies and Salt. He is the associate editor of The Ecomusicology Review, a publication about the intersection of music and ecology.

Béatrice Coron

For the last 20 years, Béatrice has been exploring visual storytelling in artist books, paper cutting and public art. She stages narrative allegories in silhouette to create a dialogue with the viewer in playfulfantasies.

She enjoys sharing her experience to help others find their creative voice. Her work has been purchased by major museum collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Walker Art Center and The Getty. Her public art can be seen in subways, airports and sports facilities, among others.

Carolyn Drake

Carolyn Hazel Drake is a mostly self-taught artist from a long line of craftswomen. She is a third generation Oregonian, and her aesthetic is grounded in the colors and textures of the Pacific Northwest. Her eye for color, pattern and detail was cultivated early on in her mother’s quilt store, as was her appreciation for handwork and being a part of a creative community. Carolyn has worked with all levels of learners, and her belief in the inherent creative potential of her students guides her approach to teaching.

Charlotte Dixon

Charlotte is a published novelist who has coached writers individually and taught writing workshops in Portland, Nashville and France since earning her MFA in 2003. She is an encouraging, supportive teacher who focuses equally on the mechanics of craft and strategies to keep the creative juices flowing. Charlotte blogs regularly about writing and what it takes to keep returning to the page, day after day after day. She lives in Portland with her husband and an assortment of extended family (including canines and felines) nearby.

Cheryl Rogers-Tadevich

Cheryl Rogers-Tadevich is a Certified GOLDEN Paint Artist Educator. Spanning four continents, her work showcases the unique world of mixed media, block print and batik art. Cheryl has taught and exhibited internationally. She has also shown locally in the Geezer Gallery and in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Sharing her robust and creative spirit with her students, Cheryl teaches the wonderful applications of acrylic paints with image transfers and acrylic skins on a variety of substrates. The stunning effects give participants a unique experience.

Christopher Hirsh

Christopher Hirsh (he/him) is an activist, vocal empowerment coach, theatre artist and content creator residing in Portland, Oregon. He has worked as an actor, director, writer and teaching artist across the United States and Europe. He is the Equity and Inclusion Facilitator at Living Yoga, a Portland-based non-profit focused on developing trauma resilience, and has led recent workshops for Portland Center Stage, Clemson University and Willamette University. His skill as an educator is in creating safe and playful environments which support the expression of the vulnerable and authentic self.

Cora Pearl

Cora Pearl started studying calligraphy at age 11 and has been doing calligraphy and hand lettering ever since. She has a BA in Art and Art History from Oberlin College. Cora works as a full time calligrapher and teacher of lettering arts. She teaches calligraphy and hand lettering at Portland Community College and teaches independent workshops, classes and private sessions. She has taught at several calligraphy conferences including Letters of Joy, IAMPETH, Letterfest, Letterworks and Letters California Style. Cora also does calligraphy commissions in addition to her teaching.

Corrine Loomis-Dietz

Corrine Loomis Dietz has a passion for investigating materials and techniques to develop the visual voice. She has received in-depth training in the technical aspects of paint systems, painting practices and the use of a variety of tools. Corrine brings 30 years experience as an artist and instructor to help students gain a confidence with materials and strengthen their intuitive process.

Cynthia Herron

Cynthia Herron has taught college-level art classes since 1995 and is currently teaching at Chemeketa Community College and her own studio in Salem. She enjoys sketching outdoors, then creating abstract landscape paintings using oils and/or acrylics. Cynthia loves working with color and sharing her knowledge with painters of all levels of experience. Her memoir Paint By Number, explores how she tended her artistic journey and found her voice as a painter. Her work can be found at Freed Gallery, Bush Barn Gallery and Fog Forest Gallery in New Brunswick.

Cynthia Herron

Cynthia Herron has taught college-level art classes since 1995 and is currently teaching at Chemeketa Community College and her own studio in Salem. She enjoys sketching outdoors, then creating abstract landscape paintings using oils and/or acrylics. Cynthia loves working with color and sharing her knowledge with painters of all levels of experience. Her memoir Paint By Number, explores how she tended her artistic journey and found her voice as a painter. Her work can be found at Freed Gallery, Bush Barn Gallery and Fog Forest Gallery in New Brunswick.

Daniela Molnar

Daniela has been teaching students of all ages since 2007. She is a full-time Associate Professor teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she founded and leads the Art + Ecology program. She also coordinates and leads educational trips with Signal Fire.

Daniela Molnar

Daniela has been teaching students of all ages since 2007. She is a full-time Associate Professor teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she founded and leads the Art + Ecology program. She also coordinates and leads educational trips with Signal Fire.

Dave Roholt

A native of Salt Lake, Dave lived in Japan for two years prior to studying at Utah State University, earning a BFA and receiving an MFA in painting from Colorado State University in 2006. He resides in the Pacific Northwest with his artistically gifted wife Jenny and is a tenured professor of art at Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington.

Dave Roholt

A native of Salt Lake, Dave lived in Japan for two years prior to studying at Utah State University, earning a BFA and receiving an MFA in painting from Colorado State University in 2006. He resides in the Pacific Northwest with his artistically gifted wife Jenny and is a tenured professor of art at Pierce College in Lakewood, Washington.

Dayna Collins

Dayna Collins is an energetic and enthusiastic abstract painter. She loves experimenting with texture, layers and color, likening her paintings to going on an archeological dig. Her work can be found in two Northwest galleries and she is featured in several books.

She paints intuitively and abstractly, laying down bold swaths of color in oil paint mixed with cold wax, then going back in, scraping, layering, adding, subtracting, refining the composition and finally discovering the story buried in the paint. She loves making marks using oil pigment sticks, graphite, or by scratching into the surface with a sharp object, each mark reflecting her eclectic personality. She is an energetic teacher and provides a safe place for students to experiment and learn new techniques.

Dayna Collins

Dayna Collins is an energetic and enthusiastic abstract painter. She loves experimenting with texture, layers and color, likening her paintings to going on an archeological dig. Her work can be found in two Northwest galleries and she is featured in several books.

She paints intuitively and abstractly, laying down bold swaths of color in oil paint mixed with cold wax, then going back in, scraping, layering, adding, subtracting, refining the composition and finally discovering the story buried in the paint. She loves making marks using oil pigment sticks, graphite, or by scratching into the surface with a sharp object, each mark reflecting her eclectic personality. She is an energetic teacher and provides a safe place for students to experiment and learn new techniques.

Debra Carus

Debra Carus is a metalsmith and jeweler in Clackamas, Oregon. Her passion is for creating storied art jewelry that reflects her love of nature and her Norwegian roots. Debra is a full time studio artist and metals instructor. She is also a Senior Instructor for Art Clay World, certifying metal clay instructors and enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest.

Donna Watson

Donna Watson, a NW mixed media collage artist, is inspired by nature and her Japanese heritage. She has traveled all over the country teaching workshops on collage, creativity and personal expression. She has won numerous awards, exhibits in galleries and is published in magazines and books including Masters Collage: Major Works by Leading Artists (Lark).

Donna Watson

Donna Watson, a NW mixed media collage artist, is inspired by nature and her Japanese heritage. She has traveled all over the country teaching workshops on collage, creativity and personal expression. She has won numerous awards, exhibits in galleries and is published in magazines and books including Masters Collage: Major Works by Leading Artists (Lark).

Dorota Haber-Lehigh

Dorota Haber-Lehigh is an artist, educator, linguist and forager. She loves gardening, hiking, field sketching, mushroom hunting and botanical drawing. Her passion is drawing native plants and discovering their edibility, medicinal use and ecological connection. She is drawn into the sculptural and architectural wonder of plants as well as the ephemeral beauty of plants throughout all seasons. She authored two ethnobotanical coloring books: ABC of Native Plants of the Coastal Pacific Northwest and Native Berries of the Coastal Pacific Northwest. She enjoys teaching ESL and Art of Ethnobotany at Seaside High School and Botanical Drawing at various community centers.

Dorota Haber-Lehigh

Dorota Haber-Lehigh is an artist, educator, linguist and forager. She loves gardening, hiking, field sketching, mushroom hunting and botanical drawing. Her passion is drawing native plants and discovering their edibility, medicinal use and ecological connection. She is drawn into the sculptural and architectural wonder of plants as well as the ephemeral beauty of plants throughout all seasons. She authored two ethnobotanical coloring books: ABC of Native Plants of the Coastal Pacific Northwest and Native Berries of the Coastal Pacific Northwest. She enjoys teaching ESL and Art of Ethnobotany at Seaside High School and Botanical Drawing at various community centers.

Emily Carr

Emily Carr is the program director of the Low-Residency MFA at Oregon State University-Cascades. She has an MFA from the University of North Carolina and a doctorate from the University of Calgary. Her recent books include poetry, Whosoever Has Let a Minotaur Enter Them, Or a Sonnet— (McSweeneys, 2016,) and short prose, Name Your Bird Without A Gun: A Tarot Romance (Spork, 2019). Emily’s experience teaching music to Quaker children encourages her to think of writing workshops as laboratories: spaces for exploration, imagining together, sharing what we’ve created and thinking metacognitively about what happens in these inventive moments.

Erica Berry

Raised in Oregon, essayist Erica Berry taught creative writing at the University of Minnesota and now leads an annual writing workshop in Sicily. The Pushcart-Prize nominated winner of the 2018 Steinberg Essay Prize, she is the recipient of fellowships from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and her work appears in the New York Times Magazine, Colorado Review, Fourth Genre, The Atlantic and others. She loves teaching students of all experience levels- only curiosity is required.

Gabriella Klein

Gabriella Klein received her MFA from Vermont College. Her poetry collection Land Sparing won the Nightboat Prize and was a finalist for the California Book Award. Her work regards the poetic lens as an instrument no less valuable than the microscope or telescope through which to investigate the world.

Inga Dubay

Inga Dubay taught at the Oregon College of Art and Craft for twenty-five years. She is co-author of Write Now: The Getty-Dubay Program For Handwriting Success, Italic Letters: Calligraphy & Handwriting, Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series and author of ‘Getty-Dubay Italic Calligraphy: for School & Home. Dubay and Getty have presented 170handwriting seminars for medical professionals and numerous workshops forthe public. Inga served on the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology Board for twelve years and has taught at Sitka since 1992.

Janet Parker

Janet earned the NY Botanical Garden's Botanical Art certificate in May 2015. A 1989 graduate of Parsons School of Design, she has worked as an editorial art director and graphic designer for many magazines and book publishers, including Newsweek, Workman Publishing and until 2012, Tin House. A few years after a move from New York to Portland, Oregon in 2009, she discovered fellow botanical art lovers in the area and helped form Oregon Botanical Artists, now an active group there (www.oba-artists.com). She currently teaches Botanical Drawing classes at Oregon College of Art and Craft and Oregon Society of Artists.

Jef Gunn

A Northwest native, Jef Gunn studied drawing and painting in California through the 1970s, held residencies in Barcelona and Paris in the 1980s, and since the mid 1990s has engaged in a passionate study of Asian art. With a balance of humor, broad knowledge and helpful insight, he is able to draw from each student her or his own natural way to paint, while bringing to bear practical instruction through historical examples, especially of the Modern period. He's been teaching for 22 years.

Jenna Lechner

Jenna Lechner is an illustrator, writer and teacher based in Portland, Oregon. Born in Montana, she received a BFA degree in printmaking from the University of Oregon. She has been teaching art in the Portland area for the last seven years. Her practice focuses on observing the natural world, creating a one-on-one relationship with students and developing a deep understanding of the intersection between fine art and craft. Some of her illustration and writing clients include Adobe, Pentel Arts, HTC Mobile, the Portland Mercury, Willamette Week, DailyServing and Postfilm Design. This is her second year teaching at Sitka.

Jennifer Anderson

Jennifer L. Anderson is a book artist and printmaker working in many of the printmaking disciplines, primarily intaglio, relief printing and stone lithography. She has exhibited throughout New England and Central California, and her work is in private collections nationwide. Anderson has a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Connecticut and completed graduate course work in printmaking and education from Central Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut. She is currently studying to be a Great Books Scholar.

Jennifer Anderson

Jennifer L. Anderson is a book artist and printmaker working in many of the printmaking disciplines, primarily intaglio, relief printing and stone lithography. She has exhibited throughout New England and Central California, and her work is in private collections nationwide. Anderson has a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Connecticut and completed graduate course work in printmaking and education from Central Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut. She is currently studying to be a Great Books Scholar.

Jennifer Kuhns

Jennifer Kuhns has been creating mosaic for 18 years. Her work ranges from strikingly realistic to highly designed tile installations. She has been featured in many exhibits and galleries throughout the country and works with salvaged glass, tile and other reclaimed materials, painstakingly shaping each piece for assemblage into exquisite mosaic art. She creates custom mosaic for corporate and private clients, and her public art and community projects demonstrate a rare ability to engage, educate and create community with all ages and socio-economic groups. She lives and works on a small farm in rural western Washington.

Jennifer Springsteen

Jennifer Springsteen is the co-founder of PDX Writers and a certified facilitator in the Amherst Writers and Artists method. She is the recipient of the 2008 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship for fiction and a 2015 Fishtrap Summer Fellow. Her first story collection, Virginia State Map, was a contest finalist with the University of Missouri-Kansas City Press. She has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and is the editor of VoiceCatcher4, and she continues to edit and coach writers. She completed her first novel, American War Song, and is completing her second, King of Boys.

Joanne Daschel

Joanne Daschel creates mosaics with glass and stone in her studio at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, combining traditional mosaic tools and materials with contemporary design and techniques. She teaches from her studio and Artists' Studio Association in Lincoln City and shows her work at Volta Gallery in Lincoln City.

Judy Vogland

Long time Oregon painter, Judy Vogland, continues to work with water-based mixed media while incorporating natural and found materials as surface makers. She has taught surface building with sand on the Oregon beaches for nearly forty years. Students learn to create large paintings by working with beach sand and found materials manipulated by natural forces of gravity, wind and water. In addition to teaching at Portland State University, Cannon Beach Haystack School, Hillsboro High School and the Sitka Center, Vogland creates public space and corporate artwork and works in collage/assemblage for gallery exhibitions.

Judy Zugish

Judy Zugish is a basketry artist and teacher whose work is experimental and sculpted from nature. She has explored plants in her fiber arts garden for over 30 years with keen curiosity. In 1991 she dedicated her energies to starting a field school on her nursery property, hosting national and international instructors introducing them to the Northwest. A gypsy by nature, she has been roaming widely since 1998, leading journeys in basket making to Japan, England, Denmark, France and Germany. Her teaching style is innovative and dedicated to the pleasures of sustainable nature.

Kami Ellingson

Kami Ellingson is a practical hydrologist with 20 years of field experience. For the past ten years she has provided leadership in tidal wetland restoration of the Salmon River estuary. Kami takes an honest and direct approach to teaching and education through her passion and enthusiasm for this work.

Karen Hymer

Karen Hymer is a visual artist and educator from Tucson, Arizona. She holds BFA, MA and MFA degrees in Fine Art Photography and has taught for over 25 years. She sees teaching as an opportunity to present new ways of experiencing the world through interaction with nature and image making. Karen’s current work explores the effects of time on the human body and various plant life. Her richly detailed photogravures emphasize the interplay of texture, pattern, light and shadow in muted earth tones. Her images are visually seductive; a poetic beauty is revealed in often overlooked subjects.

Karen Hymer

Karen Hymer is a visual artist and educator from Tucson, Arizona. She holds BFA, MA and MFA degrees in Fine Art Photography and has taught for over 25 years. She sees teaching as an opportunity to present new ways of experiencing the world through interaction with nature and image making. Karen’s current work explores the effects of time on the human body and various plant life. Her richly detailed photogravures emphasize the interplay of texture, pattern, light and shadow in muted earth tones. Her images are visually seductive; a poetic beauty is revealed in often overlooked subjects.

Kat Sloma

Kat Sloma is an Oregon fine art photographer, author and instructor who has taught photography since 2011 and iPhone photography since 2013. Her approach to teaching is hands-on and accessible to all skill levels: demonstrating, then allowing time for the students to practice the concepts and ask questions. Kat's book, Art with an iPhone: A Photographer's Guide to Creating Altered Realities, is in its second edition, released December, 2017.

Katia Kyte

Katia is a Russian born, award-winning oil painter. She has lived on the Oregon Coast since 2008. She paints mostly from life, plein air or in her studio in Lincoln City. She exhibits at Rowboat Gallery and Volta Gallery. In addition to her painting and teaching, she is busy raising a child.

Kelly James

Kelly James is a photographic artist based in Salem, Oregon. He grew up in Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley and received a BS degree in Technical Journalism from Oregon State University. He has owned and operated a commercial photography studio for more than 25 years. His fine art interests include documentary, figure and landscape photography. He is passionate about creating beautifully lit images that have mood and feeling. Kelly is also an adjunct photography instructor at Chemeketa Community College.

Ken O'Connell

Ken O’Connell is Professor Emeritus of Art from the University of Oregon and founder and President Emeritus of Imagination International. He brings energy and a love of sketchbooks to his workshops. He will show you how he filled his 91 sketchbooks and teach you how to explore with yours. O'Connell has been teaching sketchbooks in the NW and in Italy since 2004. His sketchbooks are currently on exhibit in Eugene at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in \"Visual Magic\", January 19 to May 12, 2019.

Kiko Denzer

Kiko grew up with an artist mom who taught him to draw, paint, make bread and sculpt, etc. He started carving stone at age ten and went to Italy at 17 to carve marble. He has worked in construction, community development and media. As a teaching artist, he works with schools and communities to sculpt wood-fired community ovens, murals, outdoor furniture and public installations. Ten years ago, after an introduction from Bill Coperthwaite, he started carving household wares out of greenwood. This and teaching have become Kiko’s primary activities. With his family, he also builds soil, garden and homestead on an acre near town.

Kim Stafford

Kim Stafford is the founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute and author of a dozen books of poetry and prose. In addition to Sitka, he has taught writing workshops at the annual Fishtrap Writers Gathering and at colleges and literary centers in Oregon and abroad. In May, 2018, Gov. Kate Brown named him Oregon's 9th Poet Laureate.

Kim Stafford

Kim Stafford is the founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute and author of a dozen books of poetry and prose. In addition to Sitka, he has taught writing workshops at the annual Fishtrap Writers Gathering and at colleges and literary centers in Oregon and abroad. In May, 2018, Gov. Kate Brown named him Oregon's 9th Poet Laureate.

Krista Eddy

Krista Eddy is a local artist and the director of the Chessman Gallery in the Lincoln City Cultural Center with a BFA in Illustration from Long Beach State University. She teaches kids’ art classes through three different nonprofit organizations. Her teaching style is enthusiastic, encouraging and all about fun.

Krista Eddy

Krista Eddy is a local artist and the director of the Chessman Gallery in the Lincoln City Cultural Center with a BFA in Illustration from Long Beach State University. She teaches kids’ art classes through three different nonprofit organizations. Her teaching style is enthusiastic, encouraging and all about fun.

Krista Eddy

Krista Eddy is a local artist and the director of the Chessman Gallery in the Lincoln City Cultural Center with a BFA in Illustration from Long Beach State University. She teaches kids’ art classes through three different nonprofit organizations. Her teaching style is enthusiastic, encouraging and all about fun.

Laura Lampton Scott

Laura Lampton Scott’s work has appeared in \"Michigan Quarterly Review\", Tin House online and Notre Dame Review, among other publications. She's contributed to two oral histories for the McSweeney’s Voice of Witness imprint. Holding an MFA from the University of Montana, she currently teaches at Portland State University and Literary Arts.

Laura Moulton

Laura Moulton is the founder of Street Books, a bicycle-powered mobile library that serves people who live outside in Portland, Oregon. She has taught writing in public schools, prisons and teen shelters and is an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark College. Her social practice art projects have included postal workers, immigrants, prisoners and students. Awards include an Excellence in Teaching award, an Innovations in Reading award from the National Book Foundation and a Pushcart nomination. She earned an MFA from Eastern Washington University.

Letitia Berlin Frances Blaker

Faculty includes Frances Blaker, Letitia Berlin and Cléa Galhano all of whom perform, record and teach workshops in the United States and abroad. Frances, who composes for recorder and other instruments, and Letitia are based in the San Francisco Bay area and form the duo Tibia (www.tibiaduo.com). Cléa, originally from Brazil, lives and teaches in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is on the faculty of Macalester College and other Twin Cities institutions. Guest instructor Adéla Gardavská is a recorder player and teacher, and a culture anthropologist. She is originally from the Czech Republic, where she started to learn the recorder at the age of 6. She studied at the Conservatory of Evangelical Academy in Olomouc with Jitka Konecna and graduated in 2017. Adéla performed with the Czech recorder ensemble Flauto Dolce and participated in workshops and Early music masterclasses with well-known recorder players, such as Alan Davis, Jostein Gundersen, Saskia Coleen or Ashley Solomon. Currently, Adéla is a member of the Washington Recorder Society and the recorder ensemble Sine Nomine. In addition to her musical background, she has a bachelor’s degree in the Culture Anthropology and French philology, and a master’s degree of European studies.

Lexi Coburn

Lexi Coburn is an artist with experience in alternative photographic processes and traditional printmaking methods. She has an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Arizona and has taught several printmaking classes, such as a DIY guerilla printmaking course, relief and etching. Her approach to teaching focuses on the technical aspects of print media and alternative photographic processes to create layers and textures to then build an image.

Linda Swindle

Linda Swindle is a watercolor artist and silk painter who enjoys the spontaneity and freedom of expression each medium lends. For Linda, inspiration for subject matter comes from our walk through everyday life. Creativity is a gift that needs to be explored and celebrated, and she enjoys helping others find that joy. She has over thirty years of teaching experience and currently teaches out of her home studio at Art Unraveled in Phoenix, AZ, The Dalles Art Center and various other locations.

Liz Walker

Liz Walker, who creates marbled paintings in her studio in Portland Oregon, began as a watercolor painter and then discovered marbling (both acrylic and suminagashi) in 2008. She received her BA in Art from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Her work has been exhibited widely in regional and national shows and she is a Signature member of the National Watercolor Society. Watercolor Artist Magazine included an article about her acrylic marbling in their August, 2016 issue. Liz has successfully taught marbling, acrylic and watercolor workshops for nearly a decade.

Lynne Wintermute

Lynne Wintermute has a BFA from Linfield College and graduate studies at Pacific Northwest College of Arts, and Universities in London and Dublin. She shows her work throughout the Northwest in invitational shows and galleries and teaches workshops in Oregon and Washington. Lynne paints acrylic expressionist landscapes as well as abstracts in oil and cold wax. Lynne works out of her studio in Pacific City, Oregon. Lynne has taught at Sitka for several years. Her teaching philosophy is to learn as much as possible while in class, to work in a collaborative atmosphere and, above all, to have fun and enjoy the other artists in the workshop.

Marcy Baker

Marcy Baker was introduced to monotype printmaking 25 years ago in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and she was hooked. Baker earned her BFA from Syracuse University in New York state. Her monotypes, paintings and collages have been featured in numerous solo, invitational and juried exhibitions nationally. Baker's work resides in private and public collections throughout the U.S. She has taught printmaking and mixed media classes at Multnomah Arts Center in southwest Portland and in her private studio for twelve years. Her Sitka workshop offers a supportive, creative environment for students of all skill levels.

Margot Voorhies Thompson and Geordie Thompson

Margot Voorhies Thompson is a Northwest painter, printmaker, calligrapher and the designer of the Sitka Center logo. She is represented by the Russo Lee Gallery in Portland, Oregon. Her public art commissions include installations at Portland State University, Woodstock Public Library, Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Oregon State Library, Tualatin, Kaiser Permanente, OHSU and the Oregon State Hospital.

Mark Brody

Mark Brody has been a working artist since graduating from Lewis and Clark College with degrees in art and education. He has taught mosaic and created installations with students in Portland Public Schools for sixteen years. What Mark finds fascinating about mosaic is how the completion of each new project is a transforming and enriching experience. The laying of the tiles is a meditative process of finding the proper shape for pattern, symmetry and design. Mark has compiled many of these ideas and techniques into his new how-to book on mosaic: Mosaic Garden Projects, published by Timber Press.

Marlana Stoddard-Hayes

Marlana Stoddard Hayes, M.A., M.F.A, an academic for 35 years, is a past Sitka Resident (1990). Exhibitions include: France, China, Vietnam and Africa, and domestically since 1980. She occasionally now teaches on the spirituality of creativity. Marlana is a National Member of A.I.R. Gallery in NYC and represented by Butters Gallery in Portland. She has focused on painting with water media and is committed to exploring the physicality of the fluid world and the larger meaning behind eco-theology.

Maude May

Maude May has been been stitching since age five and has taught both children and adults. Putting a needle and colorful thread through cloth is an age-old skill that she loves to share and feels that anyone can learn. She believes hand embroidery can be a meditative process in which, once simple stitches and techniques are learned, personal fulfillment and joy results.

Maude May

Maude May has been been stitching since age five and has taught both children and adults. Putting a needle and colorful thread through cloth is an age-old skill that she loves to share and feels that anyone can learn. She believes hand embroidery can be a meditative process in which, once simple stitches and techniques are learned, personal fulfillment and joy results.

Michele Collier

Michele has spent 15 years exploring and perfecting a process she calls "Spontaneous Clay." Working with paper clay slabs, she encourages the clay to fold, stretch and tear to express her vision for a sculpture. She has been teaching this method to beginners and advanced students for many years with great success.

Michelle Ross

Michelle Ross makes paintings out of a variety of materials in order to conjure a physical record and poetic response to being in the world. She is the head of the Drawing and Painting Department at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland. Ross is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland, Oregon. She received her MFA from Washington State University in Pullman.

Molly Hashimoto

Molly teaches regularly for outdoor institutes like Yellowstone Forever and the North Cascades Institute. She has worked with students of all ages. Her mission is to connect them to nature and cultural history through hands-on art experiences. She has been working in watercolor for over 35 years, and has studied printmaking and etching for the last 13 years. Her teaching approach is to help students discover their own style; and she does this by offering many demonstrations and skill-building exercises where they can try out methods and then tailor them to their own work. She is the author of Colors of the West and Birds of the West.

Monica Setziol-Phillips

Having grown up around the sculptures of her father, Roy Setziol, it is not surprising that Monica Setziol-Phillips decided to investigate the medium. It drew her in and she has now been carving for over 35 years. The character and feel of the wood continue to excite her. Developing the relationship between tool, wood and imagination informs the work. She looks forward to sharing what she has learned with her students and feels she learns from them as well. Her own work is mostly abstract, as she understands that approach best and finds it most meaningful.

Nancy Linnon

Nancy Linnon has been teaching writing for 25 years. Her work has appeared in literary journals and magazines such as Creative Nonfiction, Los Angeles Review, Mothering, Yoga International and the anthologies What Wildness is This, VoiceCatcher and Rage and Reconciliation. Her passion is exploring ways of accessing the creative self through the powerful act of writing.

Nancy Linnon

Nancy Linnon has been teaching writing for 25 years. Her work has appeared in literary journals and magazines such as Creative Nonfiction, Los Angeles Review, Mothering, Yoga International and the anthologies What Wildness is This, VoiceCatcher and Rage and Reconciliation. Her passion is exploring ways of accessing the creative self through the powerful act of writing.

Natalie Craig

Natalie Craig's goal in teaching is to offer students avenues into their own creative expression. She presents foundations in drawing/painting basics and composition. She introduces the works of various artists to help promote expressive insight. Natalie is a studio artist in northern California and exhibits her work nationally. She holds a BA from San Diego State University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and has participated in arts residencies in the US, Europe and South Africa to further her own creative work.

Natalie Craig

Natalie Craig's goal in teaching is to offer students avenues into their own creative expression. She presents foundations in drawing/painting basics and composition. She introduces the works of various artists to help promote expressive insight. Natalie is a studio artist in northern California and exhibits her work nationally. She holds a BA from San Diego State University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and has participated in arts residencies in the US, Europe and South Africa to further her own creative work.

Nicole Jean Hill

Nicole Jean Hill is a professor of art at Humboldt State University. Her photographs and videos have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon, the Australia Center for Photography in Sydney and the Jen Bekman Gallery in New York City.

Nicole Jean Hill

Nicole Jean Hill is a professor of art at Humboldt State University. Her photographs and videos have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon, the Australia Center for Photography in Sydney and the Jen Bekman Gallery in New York City.

Nora Sherwood

Nora Sherwood has a professional certificate in Natural Science Illustration from the University of Washington and is a working artist on the Oregon coast. Her science illustration work is guided by Baba Dioum's famous quote: "In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught." In addition to commissioned work for scientific journals, Nora shows work in galleries around the Pacific Northwest, and teaches workshops.

Nora Sherwood

Nora Sherwood has a professional certificate in Natural Science Illustration from the University of Washington and is a working artist on the Oregon coast. Her science illustration work is guided by Baba Dioum's famous quote: "In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught." In addition to commissioned work for scientific journals, Nora shows work in galleries around the Pacific Northwest, and teaches workshops.

Patricia Schmidt

Patricia has been painting for over 30 years. She is a Signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society, a member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon, the Colored Pencil Society of America and SPLASH, a professional artist group. Her paintings are published in Splash Retrospective: 20 Years of Watercolor Excellence (2013), Splash 14 (2013), Splash 12 (2011) and the Watercolor magazine (2005). She has taught watercolor and colored pencil classes as adjunct faculty for several colleges as well as in workshops in Corvallis and Lake Oswego, Oregon. Her artwork can be seen at the Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery.

Patricia Schmidt

Patricia has been painting for over 30 years. She is a Signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society, a member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon, the Colored Pencil Society of America and SPLASH, a professional artist group. Her paintings are published in Splash Retrospective: 20 Years of Watercolor Excellence (2013), Splash 14 (2013), Splash 12 (2011) and the Watercolor magazine (2005). She has taught watercolor and colored pencil classes as adjunct faculty for several colleges as well as in workshops in Corvallis and Lake Oswego, Oregon. Her artwork can be seen at the Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery.

Perrin Kerns

Perrin Kerns served as the Director of Writing at Marylhurst University where she taught English literature and creative nonfiction. Her own writing of lyric essays led her to making personal narrative documentaries based on the lyric form. Her films have appeared in film festivals around the US and in Ireland. She won the Director’s Choice award in 2011 from the San Francisco Shorts festival for her film about her nephew, Between Sasquatch and Superman: Living with Down Syndrome. She holds a Ph.D in feminist theory and modernist literature. She lives in Portland with her husband, Kim Stafford.

Pete Railand

Pete Railand is a printmaker, educator and founding member of the Justseeds Artist Cooperative. He currently teaches at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee; and previously taught in New Mexico and Oregon. Pete works in relief and screen-printing using these mediums for addressing environmental and social justice and loves to work collaboratively.

Piers Watson

Artist Piers Watson practices, teaches, researches and writes about the Luted Crucible technique, a lost-wax process in which the mold is attached to the crucible. In 2008 and 2012 Watson apprenticed with hereditary, indigenous metal casters in rural India. Working with museums, galleries, universities and arts centers, Watson has taught thirty seven workshops in six countries and four languages. In 2015 Watson self-published The Luted Crucible, a Pre-Industrial Method of Metal Casting, all copies of which have been sold. Originally from Bozeman, Montana Watson divides his time between Santa Fe, New Mexico and the south of France.

Rebecca Wild

Rebecca Wild is a Pacific Northwest artist and calligrapher from Port Townsend, WA. Her work pairs a love of letter forms with the luminous characteristics of drawing materials and paint. She uses text as a tool for both conveying message and creating abstraction. Originally from West Virginia, she was a calligraphy and art instructor in Portland for 25 years and now teaches workshops throughout the West Coast. Rebecca is an enthusiastic and organized instructor whose emphasis on process and technique is infused with creativity and encouragement. She strives to help beginners feel successful and to give established artists fresh ideas.

Rebecca Wild

Rebecca Wild is a Pacific Northwest artist and calligrapher from Port Townsend, WA. Her work pairs a love of letter forms with the luminous characteristics of drawing materials and paint. She uses text as a tool for both conveying message and creating abstraction. Originally from West Virginia, she was a calligraphy and art instructor in Portland for 25 years and now teaches workshops throughout the West Coast. Rebecca is an enthusiastic and organized instructor whose emphasis on process and technique is infused with creativity and encouragement. She strives to help beginners feel successful and to give established artists fresh ideas.

Rio Wrenn

Rio has been developing processes and studying ancient techniques for the last 18 years. In this time she has created a diverse body of work that has informed her practice and eventually lead her to share these processes with others. The rituals of life are the basis of her work, and this ritual is shared as sacred space in workshops.

Robert Balmer

Bob Balmer uses humor in his writing to engage, to amuse, and, at times, to share an underlying truth. His work has appeared in the Smithsonian and other print media and aired on Market Place Radio and Oregon Public Radio and Television. He has an MFA from Portland State University, and has attended classes at Second City in Chicago. In his workshops he encourages people to use humor from their lives, whether it’s transmuting pain into laughter, sharing a hilarious anecdote or delineating a funny slant on a serious topic.

Ruth Armitage

Abstract painter Ruth Armitage has been honored with signature status in the National Watercolor Society and many regional groups. She divides her painting time between watercolor, acrylic and oils. Ruth's work has been featured on OPB's "Oregon Art Beat" and has been exhibited and published nationally. Recently, Ruth’s work was featured in the Spring 2017 issue of Acrylic Artist Magazine. You’ll find Ruth’s work locally at the Portland Art Museum's Rental Sales Gallery. A former high school teacher, Ruth enjoys sharing art and inspiration in the classroom. Students enjoy her organized and creative approach to teaching.

Ruth Armitage

Abstract painter Ruth Armitage has been honored with signature status in the National Watercolor Society and many regional groups. She divides her painting time between watercolor, acrylic and oils. Ruth's work has been featured on OPB's "Oregon Art Beat" and has been exhibited and published nationally. Recently, Ruth’s work was featured in the Spring 2017 issue of Acrylic Artist Magazine. You’ll find Ruth’s work locally at the Portland Art Museum's Rental Sales Gallery. A former high school teacher, Ruth enjoys sharing art and inspiration in the classroom. Students enjoy her organized and creative approach to teaching.

Sage Cohen

Sage Cohen is the author of Fierce on the Page, The Productive Writer, Writing the Life Prophetic, and the poetry collection Like the Heart, The World. She’s taught creative writing at New York University, Wordstock and the Willamette Writers Conference. Sage has rewritten losses like divorce and miscarriage from heartbreak to healing. She believes writing can be a powerful transformational path for all of us.

Sandy Oppenheimer

Sandy Oppenheimer is a self-taught artist who \"paints with paper\" in an intuitive and playful manner. She takes her inspiration from the great artists of the past, beautiful handmade papers from around the world and from the fortunate life she leads. After 20 years in Italy, she returned to northern California where she continues to develop her visual vocabulary. She has received the A.D Abramson award locally, a grant from the George Sugarman and the Ruth Chevon Foundations, nationally, and was chosen internationally as an artist in residence at the Mino City Art Paper Project in Mino, Japan.

For 25 years she has been working as an artist, primarily \"painting with paper\". As a teacher, she shares what she has discovered in her years of developing a visual language, and help unleash the creative play and potential in each individual.

Sarah Sedwick

Sarah Sedwick was born in Cleveland, Ohio and has lived in Eugene, Oregon since 2007. In 2001, she earned a BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art. Her oil paintings celebrate the simple beauty of everyday objects and are most often inspired by color combinations and perceptual effects. All are painted from life.Sarah has been teaching workshops on alla prima still life, portrait and figure painting since 2012, both in Oregon and around the country. Her teaching philosophy focuses on the technical fundamentals of representational painting and aims to make painting fun and accessible for artists of all levels. "If it isn't fun, we won't do it, and doing it is how we improve."

Sarah Sedwick

Sarah Sedwick was born in Cleveland, Ohio and has lived in Eugene, Oregon since 2007. In 2001, she earned a BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art. Her oil paintings celebrate the simple beauty of everyday objects and are most often inspired by color combinations and perceptual effects. All are painted from life.Sarah has been teaching workshops on alla prima still life, portrait and figure painting since 2012, both in Oregon and around the country. Her teaching philosophy focuses on the technical fundamentals of representational painting and aims to make painting fun and accessible for artists of all levels. "If it isn't fun, we won't do it, and doing it is how we improve."

Satoko Motouji and Sarah Greene

Satoko was born in Kyoto, Japan, and came to the United States to pursue fine art. Her medias are watercolor, sumi ink and oil. She has taught at Lane Community College for 30 years and was a part of several oversea programs offered by the University of Oregon for 18 years and taught watercolor both in Italy and Japan through these programs. She has also conducted short-time workshops in watercolor in the U.S. and Italy. Her teaching focuses on the understanding of watercolor materials, cultivating one's intuitive knowledge and self-reflection.

Sarah Greene is a retired research forest ecologist, a past Sitka board member and a current Sitka volunteer.

Sitka Staff

Sondra Holtzman

A record keeper of an evolving life, professional artist Sondra Holtzman’s sketchbooks and artwork reflect musings of travel, afar and close to home. She leads painting explorations all over the world, including Europe, South America and the South Pacific.

After attending Rhode Island School of Design and California College of the Arts, Sondra worked in San Francisco as a freelance designer, creating artwork for clients like Nike and Delta Air Lines. Her work has been published in 1000 Artist Journal Pages and Signatures: The Art Journal Collection by Somerset Studio.

For Sondra, the true joy of being an artist also lies in the sharing of her passion with others, helping them to discover their own artistic voice

Sondra Holtzman

A record keeper of an evolving life, professional artist Sondra Holtzman’s sketchbooks and artwork reflect musings of travel, afar and close to home. She leads painting explorations all over the world, including Europe, South America and the South Pacific.

After attending Rhode Island School of Design and California College of the Arts, Sondra worked in San Francisco as a freelance designer, creating artwork for clients like Nike and Delta Air Lines. Her work has been published in 1000 Artist Journal Pages and Signatures: The Art Journal Collection by Somerset Studio.

For Sondra, the true joy of being an artist also lies in the sharing of her passion with others, helping them to discover their own artistic voice